SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Hallelujah! Tax avoider Carr coughs up £1m to the HMRC after being handed a £9.4m windfall when he put his own company into liquidation

Jimmy Carr, who was condemned by David Cameron when he was exposed as a beneficiary of an aggressive tax avoidance scheme in 2012, has handed over almost £1 million to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs

Joy for the hard-pressed taxpayer! Edgy comic Jimmy Carr, who was condemned by David Cameron when he was exposed as a beneficiary of an aggressive tax avoidance scheme in 2012, has handed over almost £1 million to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

The 43-year-old TV comedian, pictured, coughed up £932,112 after he put F N Good, the company which holds his profits from TV shows, stand-up gigs, DVDs and books, into voluntary liquidation last year.

As sole director, he received all the money from winding up the firm he set up in April 2010. Newly published documents disclose that Carr was handed a £9.4 million windfall.

The move to close the company, which I disclosed last summer, appeared extraordinary as the firm was in rude health, with a profit of £4 million in the previous 13 months and total assets of £9.5million.

The note relating to tax states: ‘Creditor claims admitted by the liquidator totalled £932,112. All creditor claims were submitted by HMRC in relation to the company’s pre-liquidation tax affairs.’

Carr is likely to pay personal tax on his £9.4 million windfall, which could exceed £4million. However, he might apply for Entrepreneurs’ Tax Relief, resulting in a bill of just 10 per cent, instead of 28 per cent in capital gains tax.

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Currently, Entrepreneurs’ Relief is available for up to £10 million lifetime gains, potentially worth up to £1.8 million in tax savings.

Carr apologised for a ‘terrible error of judgment’ after he was caught using K2 — a scheme run from Jersey that was said to cut the tax bills of its members to just 1 per cent.

It was reported he’d ploughed as much as £3.3 million a year into K2 from his TV work, DVD sales and live shows. He said he had been told the scheme was entirely legal.

Pet-sitting Pippa takes Kate's Lupo down the pub

Pippa Middleton and her hedge-fund fiance James Matthews were showing off her new £250,000 engagement ring to friends at Cross Keys pub in Chelsea on Wednesday.

Pippa, 32, and James, 40, were also doing a spot of babysitting for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who jetted off to France on a family holiday last week on the Duke of Westminster’s private plane. They were looking after Lupo, the Cambridges’ cocker spaniel. ‘He was tethered to James’ chair throughout their dinner and was very well behaved most of the time,’ says my spy.

‘At one point, he went to say hello to a pug belonging to a couple on a neighbouring table, and Pippa had to pull him away, but otherwise Lupo had perfect table manners.’

Lyricist Sir Tim Rice, 71, separated from his pregnant lover, Laura-Jane Foley, earlier this summer much to her distress, but the 34-year-old art historian is determined to be upbeat.

She posted this picture of herself with the caption: ‘What a difference half a year makes! Baby (and mummy!!) both growing well!’

Laura, who is expecting her baby in October, has also just given an interview with an arts publication in which she offers her younger self advice: ‘When you’re 22, you’re keen to get out into the world and move on from university.

‘Never forget that the people you’ve spent three or more years growing up with will become exciting movers and shakers in their field.

‘Keep in touch and who knows what projects may come to fruition many years from now.’

As a Cambridge undergraduate, Foley befriended artist Lucian Freud in his 70s, and later wrote a play about her experiences, which was performed on stage by Cressida Bonas, Prince Harry’s ex.

Uh oh, Jamie ponders another 'hokey' name for child No 5

Prepare for another wacky name in Jamie Oliver’s household.

The TV chef’s wife, Jools, is due to give birth to their fifth child any day now and Jamie has revealed they will keep up their family tradition of unusual monikers.

‘I am sure it will be floral or seasonal in some shape or form,’ he tells me. ‘Ultimately, I will try and keep it within a certain remit. But, yeah, I think it will probably end up like all the others!’

TV chef Jamie Oliver’s wife, Jools (picturd together), is due to give birth to their fifth child any day now and Jamie has revealed they will keep up their family tradition of unusual monikers

‘Jools likes her names!’ he adds. ‘Her middle names are always quite unusual, but I’m not sure how unusual Poppy, Daisy, Petal and Buddy are. I think the middle names can be a little bit hokey, but they all kind of fit.

‘The kids will probably get involved in naming whatever the next one is.’

Veteran rocker Rick Wakeman is hoping peace will soon break out between the Downing Street cat Larry and the Foreign Office mog Palmerston. ‘I’m worried because I read about Larry fighting with the other official cat and it’s upsetting,’ says Wakeman at yesterday’s National Cat Awards at The Savoy, where he was a judge. ‘I’m not sure if Theresa May’s a cat lover, but if she isn’t I’m going to withdraw my support from the Tories. Seriously.